


Phantasm

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: D.Gray-man, RWBY
Genre: Allen + Yang equal friendly rivals, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Bonding, F/F, F/M, Faunus Allen Walker, Friendship, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Kid Fic, M/M, POV Multiple, Reincarnation, Reluctant Mentor!Qrow, Sort Of, Speciesism, Trans Allen Walker, Trans Yang Xiao Long, how can people who live in the tropics not have tanned skin??, kids at the start of the fic, the people of Menagerie have tanned skin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-11-26 21:29:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: "Allen's thoughts are hazy, his mind blurred by drowsiness. He hears the beating of a heartbeat next to him, a scent that can only be labelled as shadow and darkness beside him. There's a small child sitting beside him with black hair, amber eyes, and… were those… cat ears on her head?No. He must be mistaken.She has an almost familiar scent, like his friends had when Allen had first gotten his Noah abilities. Something soft and pliable moves and flattens against Allen's head at the thought. He glances over at the baby with impossible cat ears, realizing her size was not as small as he had first thought.No. Surely not…He reaches up and touches one velvety soft ear on top of his head, tracing down to touch the human ear below it.And that's when he remembers the execution."Allen Walker is reborn into a new world with new rules and new expectations. But Allen was never one to follow the rules, and the changes he makes along the way might just shake the world to its very foundations...





	1. Awake

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y’all!
> 
> This is a new crossover fic of mine that I hope you’ll enjoy–there are many fun times ahead!
> 
> For me anyway… 
> 
> I want to put a disclaimer here that in the first few chaps Blake and Adam and a few other young characters that we will watch grow up will not be completely in character–while the base of the character will be there, the things that changed them as they grew will have to happen as time progresses, just like with every other human on the planet. 
> 
> Another disclaimer is that, since Allen is here this time around, there will probably be big changes to the original plot this time around, and so consequently big changes to a character’s character development. While I’ll still stay true to the characters, big events being changed in their lives will leave an impact on them emotionally.
> 
> The ships are also for later. Waay later. No one will be shipped at the age of twelve, or whatever. And obviously none of them with Allen, considering the mental age difference. 
> 
> Trigger warnings for misgendering, deadnaming, and drinking.
> 
> Please enjoy! ^^

Allen's thoughts are hazy, his mind blurred by drowsiness. He slowly opens his eyes. The room he's in is light and airy, with high sloping ceilings and walls painted with all the colors of a sunset. He hears the beating of a heartbeat next to him, a scent that can only be labelled as shadow and darkness beside him. He turns, his eyes sharp in the mid-morning light. There's a small child sitting beside him with black hair, amber eyes, and… were those… cat ears on her head?

No. He must be mistaken.

She has an almost familiar scent, like his friends had when Allen had first gotten his Noah abilities. Something soft and pliable moves and flattens against Allen's head at the thought. He glances over at the baby with impossible cat ears, realizing her size was not as small as he had first thought.

No. Surely not… 

He reaches up and touches one velvety soft ear on top of his head, tracing down to touch the human ear below it.

And that's when he remembers the execution.

* * *

Kali turns away from puttering in the kitchen when the sounds of distressed crying reaches her ears from the direction of the nursery. Ghira sighs tiredly from where he's at the table looking over some paperwork, already half out of his seat. He had been up half the night calming Blake down, however, so Kali strides over to him and gives him a peck on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. You go ahead and get back to your paperwork." She teases, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Ghira sighs but gives her an amused smile as he sits back down. "As if I could do anything else," he gripes goodnaturedly. 

Kali strides into the nursery to find that it's Eirwen who's the one crying, which is surprising to say the least. Eirwen hadn't cried the whole nine months since she had been born. They had thought she might have some sort of mental disability, but the doctors had had trouble with a diagnosis for a child so young. Despite this they had tried to be happy with both of their children, mental disabilities or not. But Kali still can't help a thrill of delight from a reaction, any reaction, out of a child who had been so calm and quiet.

She stamps this down however, worry quickly taking its place. "Oh Snowdrop, mommy's here." Gently, she picks her up out of her crib and holds her in her arms, rocking her while singing a soothing lullaby. Eirwen stops crying for a single moment, her eyes wide, before her cries begin anew. 

Allen had thought that they were using him again.

That the Black Order had done to him the same thing they’d done to Kanda.

But this… 

This was so much worse.

He was crying. He was a  _ baby _ . And he was  _ helpless _ . And he couldn’t seem to  _ stop crying _ because of that.

The strange woman with dark curly hair framing her face, light brown skin and large cat ears looks down at him with worry in her amber eyes. She smiles down at him fondly. “If I knew you were going to be the difficult child little Eri, I would have named you ‘Problem Child’ instead of ‘Snowdrop’.” This makes Allen laugh, in a morbid way. 

He had always been causing people problems.

The woman smiles down at him, bopping him lightly on the nose and making him go cross-eyed. She looks delighted by his response, which makes Allen wonder just how he had reacted to outside stimuli before he had woken up. It makes guilt bubble up in his chest, and he decides that whatever the case, he’ll be the model baby for this kind woman.

Even if he’s not sure how to feel about her yet.

The woman smiles and runs her hand through Allen’s downy hair, stroking gently at his ears which flicker at the touch. It feels at once alien and soothing, and Allen’s not sure how to feel about that either. He smiles up at her, and the woman smiles back. 

He still hates being helpless, but… 

This woman is nice.

And she’s a helpful distraction from his current problems, which would only lead to more crying if he thought about it. 

He pulls on one of the long voluminous sleeves of her black shrug, gold-leaf trim adorning the front. She’s wearing a black hakama, meaning a black skirt that nearly reaches the floor and a white overshirt. She looks down into his face and he gives her his best innocently inquisitive look, pointing at her second set of ears. Her ears perk up with interest, and she smiles indulgently.

“Curious, hmm?” Kali says with a smile, bopping her on the nose again, her smile growing when Eirwen’s ears tilt back and then she sneezes. Eirwen pouts at her, so Kali laughs and goes to sit over on a well worn black couch in the corner of the room. She knows Eirwen won’t remember this conversation later on, but she seems to enjoy being talked to. A social butterfly in the future, or just another way of being calmed down? It was hard to say.

She hopes it’s the former and not the latter. She’s always been a social person at heart, and she’s already hoping that her daughters will be as well. Kali considers how she wants to say this and decides that softening the truth won’t do any good, especially if this is to be seen as practice for the future.

“There are two kinds of races on Remnant, little Snowdrop.” Kali begins, running her hands through Eirwen’s impossible white hair, tracing the odd birthmark on her face with her eyes once again. Some troubling issues had come up because of Eirwen’s birth, and she held her closer, as if to keep her safe. “The humans and the faunus,” she says. “The faunus and humans share similar traits, except that the faunus have animal traits too.” Kali elaborates, pointing to her ears and then Eri’s with a smile. 

To her surprise Eirwen seems completely focused on her, looking up at her with sharp golden eyes. _ She’s a smart one _ , Kali thinks, pride glowing in her heart. She strokes her hand through Eri’s hair, and she closes her eyes for a second before opening them again, intent. Kali sighs. “I won’t lie to you, Eri. There has never been much equality between the humans and the faunus. Every scrap of equality we’ve had to fight for with our bare hands, and some humans aren’t shy about what they think about us.”

If a baby could look grave, that would be the expression on Eirwen’s face. Then she smiles and reaches out a hand toward Kali’s. Kali smiles, letting her grab her finger in her chubby fist. 

“Is that Eirwen…?” Ghira says, voice filled with wonder. Kali knows it had saddened him to see Eirwen so still and unresponsive, but he had still been happy with the child he had. But she can still understand the wonder in his voice, the happiness.

She looks up at him. “Yes Ghira, why don’t you come and look.” She offers her to him.

He picks Eirwen up in his strong arms, and Eirwen looks up at him. Her face screws up with tears pooling in her eyes, no doubt at storytime being so abruptly cut off. “Try talking to her,” Kali suggests.

Ghira chuckles. “I will submit to your wisdom on this,” he agrees.

The strange woman had been fine. 

But this man… this Ghira… is supposed to be his father.

And Allen already has a father.

He doesn’t need another.

“I’m Ghira, little one.” Ghira says. He smiles gently, “it’s nice to finally meet you. Your mother and I were quite worried.” Allen blinks.

He sounds like… 

He sounds like Mana.

Just this thought soothes him, and he finds himself leaning his head against the Ghira’s great chest, hearing the great pounding of his heartbeat as he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

Allen’s first words, at eight and a half months, were “why?” and then, “thank you.” Ghira and Kali had been delighted, and had eagerly awaited Blake’s first words, which didn’t come until three months later. That should have been the clue that Allen was doing things wrong. But to be honest, when first waking up reincarnated in a whole different universe, blending in by modelling after his sister’s behavior wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. Of course he still acted babyish, because even with a sixteen year old’s memories he still had the mind of a child. And he had to blend in somehow, as well as keep his own secrets.

He’d only realized he’d been doing it all wrong at the age of three, where he was laying down on his stomach reading a book about the faunus wars when his keen ears picked up the sound of Mum and Ghira speaking in hushed tones. Keeping his eyes on the book and flipping another page, he strains his ears towards them.

“I’m just worried about the rumors that have been going around Menagerie lately,” Kali says with a worried tint to her voice.

Ghira sighs. “Yes, I know. However there is little we can do about the matter.”

“I know it’s custom to announce everything when the Chieftain’s children are born, but I didn’t expect the people of Menagerie to be so superstitious…”

Allen flinches, his ears folding half back. He rubs at his left arm as bad memories bubble to the surface. He pulls down the sleeve as far as it will go to cover up the black carapace-like surface of his left arm.

“Then it’s decided,” Ghira says, and Allen realizes the conversation must have gone on without him. “We’ll post a trusted guard at Eirwen’s side, and see how it goes.”

Allen scowls.

He could protect himself just fine.

If only he had a weapon… 

* * *

Allen pulls his mother along by the hand, her letting him with obvious amusement. Blake travels alongside them with her face hidden in a book. A female redheaded guard with horns trails behind them, eyes wary of the crowds. “And where are we going, Eirwen?” Kali asks, amused.

“Clothes shopping!” Allen proclaims, though that’s hardly his goal. He’s going to this store to make a statement, one that Kali will, hopefully, understand. He’s already uncomfortable enough in his body as he is, and he can’t imagine what that will be like once puberty hits. Just the thought makes him feel sick and self-conscious, uncomfortable in his own skin. 

Once they enter the clothing store, Allen makes a show of looking around before making a beeline towards the boy’s section of the store. He really is tired of wearing girly dresses.

“This is the wrong section of the store, Eri.” Kali says, bemused. Blake looks up from her book to raise a questioning eyebrow at her twin.

“I want boy clothes, mum!” Allen insists.

Kali’s eyes immediately soften, and she smiles understandingly. “Of course sweetie, whatever you need.” She says, reaching down to ruffle his hair. Allen pouts up at her, and she laughs. Allen even catches one of Blake’s rare smiles, and though she probably doesn’t know what’s going on, Allen flashes her a smile anyway.

He knows his sister will support him through anything.

It’s Ghira and the rest of the Menagerie population that he’s worried about.

* * *

Ghira had been supportive from the start of Allen being trans. He professed that he’d always wanted a son, making Allen feel both guilty and warm inside all at once. He did have the most trouble out of anyone calling Allen by the right pronoun, but he knew he was trying, which was all that mattered to him. Kali was even more supportive, finding information about LGBTQ+ rights and transitioning as well as telling him that if there was anything he needed from her that all he had to do was ask.

Blake however… 

Well, she was the best.

Though Allen might be a little biased about that.

At seven years old they had just gotten out of lessons for the day, and they were lying on their stomachs in their room, Blake reading a book while Allen draws  _ perfectly good _ pictures, no matter that Blake couldn’t even tell what they were. 

“So, are you thinking of a name yet?” Blake asks, eyes not leaving the pages of her book, though the way her ears perk forward with interest show she’s paying more attention to his response than the pages.

“A name?” Allen asks, confused.

Blake huffs, looking up with annoyance clear on her face. “You’re going to change your name, aren’t you? Most trans people do.”

Allen tilts his head consideringly. He hadn’t thought of it before. He’d always be Allen, no matter what name he was called by his new family. But the name Eirwen doesn’t exactly make him comfortable… 

But it’s not like he could name himself Allen either. 

Every name in this world that he had encountered so far had been a color name of some sort. Even names like Nicholas or Gabrielle turned out to have some meaning when it came to color. And he had never once met an Allen in this world. That means that if he came out with a name like Allen, he would gravely stand out when it came to the rest.

He thinks of Kanda, standing strong through it all and forging his own name through a sea of blood, and he smiles grimly. Turning ideas over and over inside his mind, sudden inspiration strikes him at the thought of the sword wielding Exorcist.

“How about Gwyn?” Allen asks.

Blake’s ears tilt forward and she gives him a considering look. Slowly, she nods. “It suits you,” she says, which is Blakespeak for, “I like it.”

Allen smiles at her with his ears tilting forward. “Thanks.” Allen pauses. “Hey Blake. Have you ever thought about what you want to do when we grow up?”

Blake laughs. “That’s a long way away.”

Allen nods. “I know. But I’ve decided what I want to do.”

Blake’s amber eyes sharpen with interest, and she waves a hand in a “go on,” gesture.

“I want to be a huntsman.” Allen whispers, wary of the guard at their door.

Blake’s eyes widen, the beginnings of righteous anger transforming her face. “Gwyn, you-!”

Allen covers her mouth with his hand. “Please, let me finish,” he pleads. She looks angry enough to bite his hand off, but she nods with a huff and Allen removes his hand from her mouth. He takes a deep breath. “I want to make a difference.” He says, his eyes hardening with determination. “I want to show the faunus that they can be proud of who they are. I want to show the humans that hate and discrimination isn’t the answer. And the only way to do that is to get out of Menagerie and become someone of power and influence.”

Blake’s amber eyes are locked onto Allen with a sort of awed expression, as if she were seeing him for the first time. Then her eyes harden with determination. “Well you’re not going alone.” 

Allen’s ears pull back in surprise. “What?”

Blake sighs, rolling her eyes. “I said I’m coming with you.” She looks at him, amused. “You can hardly change the world with just one person, can you?”

A part of Allen, a very, very large part of Allen, wants to refuse and say no, to say that he can carry this burden all on his own. But he’s been through this song and dance before, and doing that had gotten both him and his friends killed.

He’ll carry most of the burden, but… 

He can let Blake have a little, if it will save her in the end.

Allen smiles. “Alright,” he agrees. 

They both grin at each other and start to make plans.

* * *

Blake had wanted to tell their parents right away about what they were planning. However, Allen had been hesitant. He figured they should get some good training in, and then see what Kali and Ghira think. And if they’re still against it, they can simply not tell them that they’re leaving.

He never told Blake about the second part of the plan, of course.

Though she probably still suspects it. She’s smart like that.

The current plan is for Allen to sneak out of the house at night to search for a proper mentor for them, while Blake stays at home and covers for him. They can only do it once or twice a week without them seeming too suspiciously tired for the rest they should have gotten, but it’s enough. Or rather, it _should have_ _been_ if the type of huntsman or huntress he was looking for wasn’t so rare in Menagerie. 

It needs to be someone who either isn’t a local but who’s willing to make the trip or stay to train them, or who is a local but doesn’t believe the rumors about Allen, or can at least put them aside if they were getting paid for it. Allen has heard all of those rumors by now from his time roaming the darker corners of the streets. In the few fights he’s gotten into, he’s gained a bit of a reputation for being a ruthless and dirty fighter amongst the darker side of town. Allen had had no qualms about looting his fallen foes, either, and though most of their weapons had been mediocre at best, he’d gotten a good pocket knife out of it that he kept with him always. As for the rumors, well, apparently he’s had aura since he was born. That along with the unnatural white hair and ‘birthmark’ is enough to convince most faunus that he had been touched by death itself.

Allen has always had this strange power humming inside him, moving and flowing through his body like water, not quite hot yet not quite cold. If he concentrates he can pull it over his skin like a protective cloak, yet it takes constant concentration to keep it up all at once, leading to long hours doing just that. His concentration is still mediocre at best, however.

It all came to a head in just a few months time, and neither Allen or Blake were ready for it.

* * *

Mum and fath _ –Ghira _ had informed them of a guest they would be hosting at Aithne's behest. Allen, being quite fond of his redheaded guard at this point, decided not to protest. If anything it was Blake who made the most protest, if only for her anti-social tendencies and the fact that unlike with Allen, getting dressed up was a huge chore for her. Allen more enjoyed it than anything else, especially since the clothes on Remnant are a lot more eclectic than those on Earth. But it was still with a sense of surprise that Allen sees Aithne usher in a child that can't be one or two years older than them with the same blue eyes, red hair and horns that she bore.

Allen has a moment of hope. Red hair… it's a long shot. But maybe… 

"You be good, Adam." Aithne teases.

Adam flushes. "Mom!" He hisses, embarrassed.

Aithne smiles, teasing him further. "Well, that's it. I'll be right outside if you need anything, kids."

Allen nods. "Thank you, Aithne." Aithne winks at him before walking out the door, closing it behind her with surprising firmness.

Allen has a feeling they've just been set up.

“I’m Adam Taurus,” Adam says, and while he appears friendly there’s an arrogant hint to his posture that Allen’s not sure he likes.

_ Definitely not Lavi _ , he thinks with disappointment.

Shaking it off, Allen looks at Blake and raises his eyebrows.  _ Are you going to introduce yourself to him? _ Blake huffs and rolls her eyes.  _ Not on your life. _

Allen rolls his eyes goodnaturedly and says to Adam, “My name’s Gwyn and this is my sister Blake. It’s nice to meet you.”

Blake mutters something that might have been complementary and then shoves her face into her book, in full introvert mode. Allen laughs. “Just ignore her. She’s shy.” He quickly side steps away from the kick Blake aims his way, meeting her glare with a teasing grin. Blake huffs with a small smile and goes back to her book, though Allen can tell she’s not really reading it. “Come over and sit down. We made snacks.” Allen offers.

Adam perks up. They all walk over and sit down on the cushions before a low table piled with food. Adam looks to Allen for direction, seeming eager at the sight of the food before him but unwilling to upset his hosts, and Allen says, “Go right ahead. We don’t stand much on formalities here.” To prove his point Allen grabs a stick of Mitarashi Dango–as if he could ever forget the recipe–and bites into one. He closes his eyes in pleasure at the doughy sweetness.

They eat in pleasant silence for awhile, before Adam looks up from his food and cocks his head at Allen. “So are the rumors true?”

And there goes his good mood.

Allen’s eyes narrow. “And what rumors would those be?” Blake looks up from her book, her eyes narrowed as she looks at Adam. 

“Not those,” Adam says defensively, and Allen relaxes slightly, “they are… interesting, but I don’t really care about them. I meant the rumors that you two haven’t been to any White Fang rallies.” 

Blakes ears perk up with interest, as do Allen’s.  _ They look just alike apart from the hair _ , Adam thinks, amused.  _ Though their personalities are vastly different. Another example of how media isn’t everything.  _

“Father can be very protective.” Blake admits, the first words she’s said to Adam the entire time he’s been here, though he hasn’t missed the byplay between the two twins, even if he can’t completely understand what’s being said.

He decides to make it his mission to decode twinspeak, if only so he can join in.

Gwyn nods in agreement. “Very.”

“But it’s his organization. You have to join eventually.” Adam pushes.

Blake tilts her head thoughtfully, while Gwyn frowns. “Do you go to the rallies a lot?” He asks.

Adam nods. “Every chance I can get.”

Gwyn and Blake meet each other’s eyes. Gwyn raises an eyebrow. Blake shrugs.

“We’ll see what Ghira says.” Gwyn tells him, and Adam nods with a smile.

That’s all he’s asking.

The more influential faunus in the White Fang, the better.

* * *

The faunus’s voices in the rally seem to roar around them, their chants echoing down the streets of Vale. They were protesting in front of an SDC dust manufacturing plant on the edge of town, signs held in hand and a chant falling from their lips. So of course it didn’t take long for things to get violent. A crowd of humans has gathered around them, and Allen feels a sudden pang in his chest. He won’t admit it, but. He missed them. Humans, that is. Even if he’s pledged to protect the faunus too, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to protect the humans any less, as contrary as that is.

But then they start to speak.

“Filthy animals!” 

“Go back to Menagerie where you belong!”

“You should all be caged!”

Allen can see Blake wilting beside him, her ears pinned back tightly against her head. Allen’s anger flares, and that’s when the first rock is thrown. More rocks are quick to follow, and faunus around them cry out in pain as they try desperately to shield themselves. Time seems to slow around him, the world becoming muted as Allen’s eyes fix on a rock sailing straight toward Blake’s head. Time resumes again with Allen stepping directly into the path of the oncoming rock, summoning aura to his face and head so that the projectile bounces harmlessly off of his temple, though not without a wince of pain. Blows still hurt, even with aura.

Allen grabs Blakes hand in his. “Come on!” He shouts, and Blake nods determinedly, though not without a worried look back at the faunus at the rally as they run, discarding their signs as they go. They would be fine. If they had any sense they would disperse to try again another day.

“Well that was hopeless from the start,” Blake grumbles kicking her feet against the sidewalk. They were entering the commercial district, where Allen hopes they could find a place that was faunus friendly. Some places weren’t, at least that’s what Adam had said.

Allen laughs, squeezing her hand in his. “Did you think changing the world was going to be easy?”

Blake sighs, looking down at the ground. “I guess not. But all that hate… I just don’t understand it.”

Allen smiles sadly. “People will always hate and fear what they don’t understand.”

Blake’s ears droop, and she scowls. Sensing her thoughts, Allen says, “But not everyone is like that Blake. The world is a mixed bag. Good or bad depends on the luck of the draw.” 

“So we were just unlucky today?” Blake huffs.

Allen shrugs. “I suppose so.” Allen’s eyes catch upon a sign above a shop door, simply labelled  _ The Crow’s Nest _ . Allen’s not sure what it is about the place that immediately draws his attention, but what makes it stay there is the red glow of an activated Aura that he can see through the walls. 

A huntsman or huntress.

“Come on Blake, let’s go inside.”

* * *

Qrow Branwen is a man of many talents and superb taste, so when shouts and a crash interrupt his prime drinking time, he looks up, instantly annoyed. There are two kids in the entrance of the bar, one with black hair and one with white. They both have sharp amber eyes and light brown skin, with matching faunus cat ears on their heads. The girl’s dark hair is long and slightly curly, sweeping past her shoulders, while the boy’s is cut to half up his neck with curly side bangs that frame his face and ears larger than his sister’s. And the white haired one has just swept a harassing man's feet right out from under him.

Heh. Cute.

The man sits up to glare at the two. "Hey, you-!" 

The white haired one kicks him in the nads.

"GAAAHHH!"

It has the desired effect, of course.

Qrow has never been above kicking them while they were down, especially an enemy. No one would ever call him an honorable fighter. As if 'honorable' fighting was anything that stood up in real life. Still, Qrow finds himself intrigued. He's never seen a child react so violently unless they were troubled or hunters in training. And these didn't look like troubled or homeless kids. Qrow knows of all the well-known huntsmen and huntresses in the area and he hadn't heard anything among the rumor mill of any of them taking on two apprentices, though that doesn't mean it's impossible.

The bar owner, Wren, looks on the verge of ushering them out when Qrow nods to the man. "I'll take care of it," he assures. And it looks like he's about to whether he wants to or not, because the children are heading straight towards him. 

The white haired boy looks up at him with eyes more golden than amber, boldly taking a seat next to him while his sister does the same, a defiant glint in her eye. “You’re a huntsman, aren’t you?” The boy asks, and Qrow belts out a laugh.

“What gave me away?” He asks, looking over at where he’d leaned Harbinger against his seat with a grimace.

The white haired boy gasps at the sight, cat ears perking up with interest. “Is that a mecha-shift? Because we have designs…” The kid pulls out a piece of paper and hands it over to him.

Qrow squints. “Are these scribbles supposed to mean something?”

The little kid puffs up in affront, but his sister heads him off, saying, “ignore him. Here are my designs.”

These ones at least made sense. Qrow nods. “Interesting. But why are you showing these to me and not your mentor?”

The twins both blink, various levels of confusion on both of their faces.

“We don’t have a mentor,” the curly haired boy explains.

The black haired girl nods seriously. “That’s why we’re here.”

Qrow has a bad feeling about this.

“Then how did you learn how to fight?” He directs his question at the white haired kid.

The kid shrugs, his ears pulling half back. “I didn’t. I just learned what I needed to while  _ looking _ for a mentor.” 

“I covered for him,” the girl admits, looking at her brother with guilt and questions in her eyes.

Qrow sighs. It isn’t an unbelievable story. A kid out alone at all hours of the night is bound to get attacked at some point, especially a faunus kid. Qrow wouldn’t be surprised if the kid’s aura was unlocked due to a fight or flight response during one of these situations. It might well have saved his life.

“Well that’s not going to happen anymore,” Qrow decides.

“Really?” The dark haired girl asks, looking hopeful. Qrow can’t decide if she’s been worried all this time or if her brother just never told her. Probably the latter, if Qrow knows anything about brothers. Though most of the time he feels like he knows scant little when it comes to shit like that.

Qrow sighs inwardly and wonders when he’d become so soft.

“Not while I’m your mentor it’s not.” He says, resigned.

The two children exchange excited looks.

“I’m going to need the scroll numbers of your parents,” Qrow says.

The girl’s smile quickly drops into a neutral expression, but the boy keeps smiling and says, “that’s alright, we have our own.” At Qrow’s lifted eyebrow, because they  _ are _ pretty young to have scrolls, he explains, “mum and dad wanted us to have them in case we ever got lost or separated.”

Qrow nods, because that makes some amount of sense.

They exchange scroll numbers, Qrow not really bothering to look at the names as he follows the kids out of the bar and makes sure they get back to their family safely. He leaves them at a reputable and faunus friendly inn, making him wonder if their parents run the joint.

It’s only as he looks at the new contact names entered into his scroll that it hits him.

_ Blake Belladonna _

_ Gwyn Belladonna _

And of course it couldn’t be any other Belladonna family… 

Qrow groans, taking a drink from his hip flask and dialing Oz before he can truly think on the matter. 

Oz will know what to do.

_ “Hello?” _

“Oz, I’ve made a mistake,” Qrow says.

_ “Yes? That’s not exactly unusual for you, Qrow.” _ Oz says, though Qrow can hear the hint of fondness behind the words.

“This one has a few more consequences than a bar fight, Oz.”

There’s silence over the line for a moment.  _ “Go on.” _

Qrow sighs. “Would offering to apprentice the two Belladonna kids without their parents’ permission cause an international incident?”

There’s another long pause. _ “It very well might. But that would depend on if the Belladonna matriarchs blamed our country for their children’s dreams.” _ Oz sighs. _ “And while I don’t think Ghira an unreasonable man, we can never be to careful. Hurry back to Beacon so you can explain this to me in full detail. I have some calls to make.” _

“Alright. See you soon, Oz.”

_ “As always.” _ Oz says fondly.

Qrow snorts and ends the call, though he can’t stop a small smile from slipping free. Shaking his head, he walks around the corner of a building and shifts into his raven form between one breath and the next. He flaps his wings before cruising into a glide, winging through the sky towards his destination.


	2. Compromises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News flies fast and reaches Menagerie.
> 
> There are several serious talks among the Belladonna family, and some new friends come to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> Got a new chapter for you all, though it's not as long as the last one. Frankly, I'm a pretty slow writer, so writing smaller chapters means I tend to get them out faster. I've already gotten some of chapter 3 written, if it helps. XD
> 
> No trigger warnings this time, except maybe subtle gender dysphoria.

Kali and Ghira Belladonna stand in the CCT tower that Menagerie holds to its name. In truth, it’s not much of one. With only a single screen to ferry calls and a horrendously bad connection, it was more of a nuisance than an asset, at least in Kali’s opinion. But today was a special occasion, because they’d gotten news down the line that Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, wanted personally to speak with them. While normally this wouldn’t be worth their time, the messenger assured them it was, and the man’s influence was nothing to sneeze at.

The connection comes through at last, and the blurry image of a human with white hair and brown eyes appears on the screen. _ “Hello,” _ his voice comes through, clear if a little staticy.  _ “I’m Ozpin as you may well know, though most call me Professor.” _ He says with a chuckle.

Kali can’t help but smile. This man is obviously fond of his students. “Not to be rude Ozpin, but what was your reason for this call?” Kali asks.

Ozpin sighs. _ “Cutting right to the chase I see. You are no doubt aware of the White Fang rally that took place two days previously?” _

Ghira bristles before visibly calming. He looks at the man on the screen seriously. “Yes. Do you have an issue with that?”

_ “Only with the way it ended. I would apologize at the actions of my human brethren, but that would imply that I condoned their actions in the first place.” _ The man says, and Ghira shoots Ozpin a smile, warming up to him if Kali had any guess.

“That’s good to hear. But then why bring it up in the first place?” Ghira asks.

Ozpin sighs.  _ “That’s where things get complicated. During the rally, two faunus children approached a huntsman and asked for an apprenticeship.” _ He says, and Kali gets the feeling he’s meeting her eyes. _ “The huntsman agreed, not knowing what he was getting himself into. As soon as he did, he contacted me.” _

Ozpin waits and lets that sink in.

It isn’t hard to put the pieces together when presented that way. Kali sighs, shaking her head fondly. Those two, always getting into trouble.

Kali smiles in amusement. “That does sound like something they would do.” Her eyebrows furrow, her ears pulling back slightly. “But an apprenticeship with a huntsman seems sudden. Neither of the twins have ever professed much interest in the subject before.”

_ “That might have been a calculated move on their part.” _ Ozpin says.  _ “It seems your children have been getting into quite a lot of trouble.” _

Kali smiles. “They have, have they?” She asks, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Ozpin coughs politely. _ “While an amusing thought, I’m afraid that this is no laughing matter. According to Qrow — the huntsman in question, that is — one of your children—Gwyn, I believe?—was going out on the streets at night in search of a mentor while his sister covered for him.” _

Ghira clenches his fists, and Kali reaches out to put a supporting hand on his shoulder. He looks at her, his eyes pained. Kali is no better. No doubt Ghira will be ready for a serious talk with their children once this meeting is over, and Kali will be right beside him. 

Ghira takes a deep breath. “Was he-?”

_ “He was likely assaulted judging from how he dealt with an unruly bar patron, but other than that I cannot say.” _

Ghira exhales slowly, and Kali lets out a relieved breath. Assaulted was better than most things that could happen to children in the streets. Especially since he survived it. 

_ “That being said, I hope you will not hold any ill will towards Vale or its countrymen for the acts of one huntsman.” _

“Of course not,” Ghira says. “If anyone is to blame for our children’s misfortune it would be us. You and your country are not to blame. Now if you would excuse us… I would like to have a  _ talk _ with a certain pair of twins.”

_ “I will leave you to it.” _ Ozpin says, a lilt of amusement in his voice.

The screen goes dark, and Kali and Ghira look to each other. Kali sighs, for once not a hint of amusement in her gaze. She smiles for Ghira and says, “come, dear. Let’s go.”

Never has Kali felt like more of a failure of a parent than she does now.

* * *

Blake has never felt more like a failure than she does now. It had started off as relatively little things, things that should have been inconsequential to her but which added up into a bigger picture that she hadn’t liked at all. It was the way things always came easily to Gwyn, whether reading or writing or basic math, though he’d at least had the decency to have trouble the further they went up in difficulty. It grated at Blake, and it made her feel… lesser. But she tried to ignore it, because at the end of the day she loved her brother, and all of these things weren’t even his fault.

But she has been avoiding this problem for two days now. The secrets Gwyn was keeping from her and probably still was. And that grated on her more. They were a team, weren’t they? That means they didn’t keep secrets from each other, didn’t _ lie _ to each other. She’d thought she was close enough to her brother that he’d never lie to her. Apparently she was wrong.

She confronted him after breakfast. Mom and dad had left shortly after on business, so they had the house to themselves apart from Aithne. He was laying under the kitchen table reading a book whose cover proclaimed it to be about the faunus wars but which was actually a book on Grimm Lore. Switching out the covers had been Gwyn’s idea. Again.

Blake crosses her arms over her chest. “When were you going to tell me?” She asks icily.

Gwyn sighs, his ears drooping. He closes his book without bookmarking it and frowns at her. “How would that solve anything? All it would have done was worry you, and I don’t want that, Blake.”

Blake throws her hands up in the air, anger bubbling up in her chest. “How would it have solved anything?! I could have been out there with you,  _ helped you-!” _

“And then our covers would have been blown and we would have never found a mentor in the first place.” Gwyn says, and she hates this, hates how his hard logic is picking apart her righteous anger.

She makes a frustrated sound, turning away from him with a huff.

“If it helps, I’m sorry.” Gwyn says with a rueful smile that Blake sees out of the corner of her eye.

Blake turns towards him, albeit reluctantly. She sits down across from him with her legs crossed in front of her. She scowls at him. “You’re not sorry for lying though, are you?” 

“I’m sorry for upsetting you,” Gwyn offers, and winces at Blake’s scowl.

"That's not enough! Don't you trust me, Gwyn? Don't you trust me like I trust you?"

"Of course I do," Gwyn says.

"Then let me in and let me help you."

Gwyn smiles. "Alright. If that's what you want, Blake."

"I do." Blake asserts. "And you have to promise to stop lying to me from now on."

Gwyn laughs. "Alright, I promise." Blake narrows her eyes. "I promise, Blake." Gwyn says, meeting her eyes.

Blake nods, a small smile blossoming on her face. Gwyn smiles back, and there's a moment of absolute peace between them.

"Not to interrupt you two, but your parents are back, and they'd like to have a word with you." Aithne says, poking her head into the kitchen, expression carefully neutral.

Gwyn and Blake meet each other's eyes.

This can't be good.

* * *

Allen feels sick to his stomach with what could be coming, with what he’d just promised. 

No more lies.

Yeah, right.

If only it could be as simple as that.

But when Allen’s whole life was a lie, what was he supposed to tell Blake? The truth?

Just the thought made him feel sick.

Blake must have sensed this, because she stops him at the entrance of the living room. “Hey, whatever it is, it’ll be okay.”

Allen smiles reassuringly at her. “I know.” Worrying about getting thrown out on the streets was probably a little extreme, even for him.

Blake shakes her head at him, and despite his reassurances takes his hand in hers. Some of the fear in Allen’s heart lessens, and he smiles at her. She smiles back, and then they walk into the living room.

Mum and Ghira are waiting for them there, seated on the couch. Ghira’s face is unreadable, however Mum’s has a faint look of disappointment that makes Allen’s stomach clench. “Gwyn, Blake, come sit down please.” Kali’s lack of mischievousness is the first sign that something is wrong. More wrong than a simple punishment.

Allen breaks free of Blake and rushes over, clambering up onto the couch and placing his small hand over mum’s while looking into her eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you both okay?” He asks with a concerned glance at Ghira.

Mum chuckles. “You’re as perceptive as always,” she says with amusement, making Blake frown.

Blake walks up to the couch at a much more sedate pace, scooching up onto it and sitting next to Ghira. “ _ Is _ there something wrong?” Blake asks, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s nothing wrong with us,” Ghira says, making Allen sigh with relief. “However we are worried about you two.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you wanted to be hunters?” Mum asks, and she sounds hurt. That alone makes Allen decide not to lie.

“I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of what you might say.” Blake confesses, ears drooping.

“I was afraid you would say no,” Allen admits. “The White Fang is really important to you, isn’t it?”

“Nothing is more important to me than my children’s dreams,” Ghira asserts, leaving Allen breathless. “And I would have never said no Blake. I’d never do that to you.” Blake closes her eyes, letting out a long sigh as her shoulders slump with relief.

“And we’re not saying that now, either.” Mum says with a smile. She frowns. “Of course, we’ll have to vet this… Qrow to make sure he’s a proper tutor, and if not find the right one for the both of you.”

“He is,” Allen says confidently.

“We  _ did _ meet him in a bar.” Blake points out.

“Exactly.” Allen nods in satisfaction.

Blake shakes her head and mutters, “I will never understand you.”

* * *

Qrow has flown all the way to Menagerie only to find  _ this _ .

“Gwyn, why does your sister have a black eye?”

Gwyn hmmed, unconcerned. “We were sparring.”

“Without aura?”

Blake shrugs from where she’s putting an icepack over her black eye. “I don’t have any.” She explains.

They’re currently sitting in a kitchen/lounge area that the twins had lead him to, with black laminate countertops and a large island in the middle that these fancy spinny chairs were all centered around. Comfy, too. The hardwood floors were buffed to a shine, with a black leather couch and mahogany coffee table behind them against the warm colored walls. 

“Well, come over here and let’s change that.” Qrow says. With a nervous look over at her sibling where Gwyn nods and smiles reassuringly, Blake walks over and stands in front of him. He places a single hand on her shoulder and searches within himself for the words he’ll need, for the power he’ll need. He’s not good with words, but he’ll try his best.

_ “With these words, your aura is released. _

_ By sword and shield, by tooth and claw.  _

_ You guard your soul with your own hands.” _

Blake’s aura shimmers out around her, a light purple color. Encasing her body, protecting it. Blake looks down at herself in wonder, her eyes wide. Qrow throws her a crooked grin. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Blake looks back up at him, and then crosses her arms and huffs, rolling her eyes at him.

Well, we couldn’t all be winners.

“Did Blake just get her aura…?” Qrow looks up at the sound of Kali’s voice. He’d known she was there, but he’d assumed that it was the guard. Foolish of him in a house so empty.

Qrow rubs the back of his head. “Er, yeah… Sorry for not asking permission, but this little rascal gave her a black eye.” He says, jerking a thumb towards Gwyn.

Kali turns a stern expression on Gwyn. “Is this true, Gwyn?”

The boy sinks down in his seat. “We were only sparring…” 

Kali’s eyes dance with amusement. “Oh, really? Well, I expect you to save the sparring for when Mr. Branwen is around from now on.”

Gwyn brightens. He nods. “Alright.”

Qrow frowns. “I thought I was being vetted…?”

Kali turns and smiles at him. She seems oddly approving. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve done a more than good enough job so far.” She smiles again. “Now let’s talk about wages.”

Well, at least one good thing came out of this.

* * *

Ruby Rose bounces up and down in excitement, peering over the side of the boat yet again. Menagerie hadn’t gotten any closer than when Ruby had last looked ten seconds ago. She pouts, and Yang laughs at her expression. She slings an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and says, “Don’t worry, sis. I’m sure they’ll still be there whether the boat arrives on time or not.”

Ruby slumps. “I know…”

“Then what’s the problem?” Yang asks, turning to look at her.

Ruby pushes her fingers together, not looking at her sister. “I was just really hoping to make a friend… or two…” She says, awkwardly. 

Ruby didn’t have many friends in preschool other than Yang and Yang’s friends. She was too bright, too energetic, always going in the time out corner for reasons that made no sense to Ruby.

Though maybe frequently drawing weapons in class had something to do with that.

But weapons were so cool! She couldn’t  _ not _ do it, no matter the grueling punishments that came with it.

“Aww, sis!” Yang coos, turning the arm wrapped around her shoulders into a headlock so as to better give her a noogie.

Ruby flails her arms and struggles in vain. It was a trick all along! She should have known. Everything with Yang always leads to noogies. 

* * *

As she steps off the gang plank Yang Xiao-Long stops to take a look around. Houses of varying wealth stretch across the city, and Yang notices how bunched up and close together they are, vying for room on the small plot of land they’ve been given. It makes something squirmy and uncomfortable settle in Yang’s stomach, not to mention the way some of the faunus here are looking at her. As if  _ she _ were the outsider here. Which she is, in a way. She becomes hyper aware of the silicone breasts inside her bra, sticking to her bare skin due to the heat, and has to resist the urge to adjust them. 

She bristles in affront when she finds a red haired woman with black horns staring at her for just a bit too long, but then Qrow steps up beside her with suitcase in hand, and the woman nods to him with a smirk. “Hey, Qrow. What took you so long?” She teases.

“Well I’m sorry if I’m not at your beck and call.” Qrow sasses back.

The redhead smirks before crouching down to meet Yang’s eyes. “Hey. My name’s Aithne. It’s great to meet you.” She says, holding out a hand. 

“Sames,” Yang says, shaking it with a wink. Aithne laughs and ruffles her hair.

After the introductions are over and the baggage is distributed between the five of them, Aithne leads them to the manor, explaining that if the Belladonnas had come out to meet them in person it would have most likely caused a scene. Which. Yang gets. These guys are like, faunus royalty or something, right? Yang just hopes their kids aren’t pompous asses.

“So you’ve been training them for a couple years now, huh Uncle Qrow?” Ruby asks, though she doesn’t really need a confirmation considering the number of treats Qrow had bought her with his increased budget during that time.

“What have you been focusing on?” Yang asks curiously.

Qrow shrugs. “Well they won’t make their weapons until Signal, so I’ve mostly been focusing on hand-to-hand and aura.”

Ruby winces. It’s an open secret among the family that Ruby absolutely sucks at hand-to-hand. Yang has tried to teach her more numerous times but soon gives up on her as a lost cause before resolving to try again later. 

Sigh. 

It's too bad being lazy was the preferable option. 

“That sounds like a good approach,” dad says approvingly. It's one of his good days, luckily for Yang and Ruby.

“Yeah, whatever.” Qrow says, but Yang can tell he’s pleased.

"So what are they like?" Ruby asks eagerly, and Yang hikes her suitcase a little bit higher on her shoulder. Here we go… 

Qrow takes a moment to consider, before saying, "Blake's a bit of a tough cookie, but she'll warm up to you eventually. Gwyn's a lot more social, so you should get along with him fine."

That's… better than she expected, to be honest.

She'll still make her own judgements and decide on her own, however.

Palm trees interspersed with the buildings loom overhead, making Yang wish for some shade as she winces, wiping off the stinging sweat clinging to her brow. They finally come across a house that triples in size compared to the other houses in Menagerie, though that's really not saying much. It could be seen as a house in a middle-class neighborhood in Vale, though it might be a bit much for Patch. It's certainly bigger than their house back home.

They're lead through an open foyer with high arching ceilings and through a lounge room into a small dining room with a low table and cushions on the floor for sitting, the hardwood floors polished to a shine and the warm colored walls giving it a rather homey look. The delicious-looking sandwiches on the table make Yang's stomach rumble, enough so that she almost misses the two faunus sitting at the table.

They're obviously siblings from the start. They have very similar features, with sharp cat-like eyes that seem fitting to the near identical cat ears on each of their heads. The only difference is that the boy is white haired, his hair cut shorter with curls framing his face, while the girl has dark hair sweeping past her shoulders.

Another difference soon becomes readily apparent as the white haired faunus's ears twitch, and he looks up from the book he'd been reading with a polite smile on his face. The girl's ears twitch, but she otherwise ignores them completely.

Gwyn smiles at them, standing up and approaching with his ears perked. "Hey Qrow, you're back!" He focuses his attention on the rest of them and smiles politely. "And you must be Ruby, Yang and Taiyang. Qrow's told me all about you."

Yang laughs. "All good things I hope?"

Gwyn smiles. "Mostly," he says mischievously. 

Yang narrows her eyes. "Oh, really?" She asks, mostly to tease Qrow.

"He called you a 'bombastic blonde,'" Gwyn reports.

Yang laughs. 

"Only after I called her smart!" Qrow exclaims under Taiyang's evil eye.

"I'm afraid I don't recall," Gwyn says innocently.

Qrow scoffs. "Suure you don't." 

Gwyn gives him an innocent look and Qrow huffs and cuffs him fondly over the back of the head. Blake rolls her eyes at the by play but can't quite stop her smile. Yang can't help but feel a little jealous at the interaction. He was  _ their _ Uncle, so why does it feel like he suddenly wasn't anymore? Anger bubbles up to the surface and she has to resist from glaring at the two.

Qrow scoffs. "C'mon kids. Let's do what we actually came here for."

Sparring.

And when it was Yang's turn to fight, she wouldn't lose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yang's insecurities rear their head, and Allen is as much a liar as ever.
> 
> And I accidentally gave Blake an inferiority complex. 
> 
> Whoops.
> 
> But it does make sense, if you think about it. Blake is just a kid here, not to mention that with her personality she's more likely to internalize things than say them aloud, it was bound to breed frustration and resentment when he inevitably seemed more good at things than she was, if more at herself than her brother.
> 
> And Allen isn't really better than her at these things. In fact, when she gets older she'll probably excell at some of them better than he can. But right now he has more experience than her, and that shows no matter how much he tries to hide it.
> 
> Also, did anyone notice how Aithne subtly gave the two twins privacy while they were duking it out? She was just sort of like, "not my business. *shrug*"
> 
> Also Ozpin. He and Allen do _not_ mix. I completely lost Allen's character through writing him, and had to go back and look through all of my notes. So don't expect much more interaction with him other than what's needed. Sorry, but Allen's the main character, not him.


	3. Through Fights and Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang has a grudge. 
> 
> Allen is himself.
> 
> Friendship ensues and Qrow is tired of all this preteen drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> New chapter ahead! Sorry it's not quite as long as the others, but this felt like a good stopping point, but don't worry. things are heating up in the next few chapters.
> 
> just in case you were wondering... 
> 
> Also, my brother, who reads this before anyone else as an unofficial beta reader, suggested people might be confused as to the ages of the children in this story.
> 
> So, as of now;
> 
> Blake, Yang, Allen, Weiss: 10 yrs old
> 
> Ruby: 8 yrs old
> 
> kids start middle school at around 11-12, so I thought this was a good compromise between everyone's age levels/developmental maturity, though obviously it isn't perfect and since I don't know everything they're going to act a bit more mature than they really should in order to stay IC.
> 
> Also, I'd like to thank everyone who commented, kudos'd, and bookmarked so far! All of you are amazing, and I'd mail you cookies if you weren't so far away. ^^ You could have some cyber cookies instead, though! (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) ^^
> 
> See you at the bottom!

They are all gathered outside in the backyard, where there is a sort of ring set up for sparring. Gwyn and Yang are up first, much to Yang’s delight.  _ Ohh am I going to enjoy this. _ Yang thinks with a feral grin at her opponent. She does eye a couple certain faunus matriarchs however, who had returned from an important White Fang meeting to watch the bouts.

Yang’s eyes slide back over to the white haired cat faunus she’s about to face. “Heey so, your parents wouldn’t like… kick us out and ban us from Menagerie if I beat your face into the dirt, would they?”

Gwyn laughs. Did he think she was joking? “I doubt it.”

Yang grins. “Great.”

Yang starts the match with an overhead swing, her fist flying towards Gwyn’s stupid face. But Gwyn ducks deftly beneath her swing and past her guard, fist hitting her chin so hard she sees stars. Her yellow aura flares up around the area, saving her from damage if not pain. Then Gwyn kicks her in the stomach and she’s sent flying back, the air leaving her in a whoosh as pain shoots through her body.

“Ha. Your mistake.”

The pain becomes power that floods through her veins, and Yang knows that her eyes are glowing a blood red as she stands and bares her teeth at her opponent. “Go Yang!” Ruby cheers from the sidelines, and Yang stops to shoot her a wink before pushing off of the ground, leaving deep furrows in the ground as she leaps at mach speed towards her opponent.

It’s probably a testament to her opponent’s eyesight that he can see her coming at all. He dips to the side of her punch as she lands on the ground, kicking up dirt and dust in her wake. And then he’s on the defensive, or at least, he  _ should _ be. But her opponent is ducking and dodging, flowing around her fists like water, at one point bending over completely backwards so her fist just barely skimmed over his chest before turning it into a backflip that kicked her in the face! She was so surprised she forgot to mold her aura and he  _ broke her nose. _ She’d be impressed if she wasn’t so pissed. 

But then he makes a mistake. Yang can see it clear as day. He goes to block her with his left arm, and Yang grins and punches it as hard as she can. His arm gives, his aura flaring out with a kaleidoscope of colors patchworked into its grey-blue surface, and he goes rolling into the dust. She grins, panting. Yang feels pleased at her win but she also feels disappointed. She wants this to go on longer. Sure, she’s really pissed about her broken nose, but realistically that’ll heal within a span of hours. She’s… had fun, she realizes. She wouldn’t mind doing this again.

Yang puts her hands on her hips and looks down at him with a cocky grin, raising an eyebrow. “So, do you give?”

Gwyn nods with a weak smile. “Yes, I give up.” Yang relaxes, but oddly Qrow doesn’t call the match.

Yang’s just about to ask him what gives when one of Gwyn’s hands move, and grit and dust assault her eyes. She cries out, eyes burning with pain, and then before she knows it her feet are kicked out from under her as a strong arm yanks her arm behind her back, a knee pressed into the small of her back. Yang painfully blinks the dust out of her eyes to see with horror that one of her silicone breasts has fallen out of her shirt. “So, do you give?” Gwyn asks, seemingly unbothered. But Yang knows that never lasts for long. 

Yang blinks back the tears in her eyes as shame burns through her. “Yes, yes I give.”

Gwyn steps off of her and Yang gets up, turning away.

“You dropped this.” Gwyn says from behind her, and Yang’s stomach drops to her feet. Yang turns to see him holding out her silicone breast, not acting bothered in the slightest. Anger and shame burn hot inside her and she rips it from his hands, trying not to cry. Before she can turn away, he offers, “You know I had to start wearing a binder this year.”

Yang blinks, not sure she heard him right. “What?”

Gwyn unbuttons his shirt a little so she can see the material he’s wearing underneath. He smiles at her gobsmacked expression. “Of course, it took awhile to find the right materials for it to be breathable during combat. It’s actually imported from Vacuo.” He tilts his head, faunus ears perked. “If you like, I could try to find something like that for you. I’d just need your measurements.” He offers.

Yang looks around at all the accepting faces around her.

And Yang laughs. Stuffing the silicone breast back inside her shirt, she slings an arm around Gwyn’s shoulders and smiles at him. “Y’know, you’re not so bad.”

“Thanks,” Gwyn snarks, and Yang laughs. Seeing the fond look Qrow throws them both, Yang’s not sure why she was so worried in the first place.

“C’mon, let’s go take a break. I think it’s our sister’s turn for a bout.”

Gwyn grins. “Fifty lien on Blake.”

Yang laughs. “I’m not taking that bet.”

Sorry Rubes… 

* * *

Allen sits beside Yang, taking the drink Qrow hands to him with a grateful smile. He is rather thirsty after that spar he had with Yang, and judging by the way Yang is chugging her water, so is she. Allen is no better.

“That… sand in the eyes, that was dirty.” Yang pants accusingly, wiping sweat from her brow.

“There’s no… such thing as dirty in a fight.” Allen pants matter of factly. 

Catching his breath, he smirks at Yang. She glares for a moment before laughing goodnaturedly. “I guess I can’t argue with the results.” She says, catching her breath as well. Yang grins. “Thanks for the fight. It was fun.”

Allen tilts his head. It  _ had _ been fun, with no stakes on the line and no one to protect.

He smiles. “Yeah. You too.”

He turns his head towards the ring just in time to see Ruby running in circles around Blake in a whirl of rose petals only for his sister to stick out a foot and trip her, causing her to go rolling into the dirt.

Yang winces. “Ooh, ouch. That one’s gotta sting.”

Allen frowns. “All she did was fall,” he points out.

Yang nods, running a hand through her golden locks. “I know. It’s the fact she used her Semblance against her that’s the problem.”

“Then she can get better and learn from it,” Allen says.

Yang frowns. “Easy for you to say. Ruby’s Semblance is all she’s got going for her right now.”

“She’s not much of a fighter, then?”

“She sucks at it.” Yang says bluntly, and Allen winces.

“So what’s your Semblance?” Allen asks, curious.

Yang puffs up with pride. “It’s called Burn. Every hit I take makes me grow stronger. I’m basically unbeatable.” She boasts. Allen clears his throat pointedly and she flushes. “I-in most cases, anyway…” She coughs. “A-anyway, what about you?”

Allen’s ears pull back and he looks away, embarrassed, even as Ruby lets loose a tremendous battle cry that is quickly cut off as her face meets dirt. “I don’t know. My Semblance didn’t make itself known as they usually do when aura is unlocked.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Yang says, punching his shoulder with a grin. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out sometime.”

Allen smiles at her. “Thanks.”

“You sure have a lot of people on your aura.” Yang not quite asks, and Allen grimaces.

“Thanks…?” Allen changes the subject. “You know you’re pretty fluent in Menagerian.”

Yang grins. “Thanks. Qrow basically forced it down our throats so I can’t take credit, but y’know.” She says with a casual shrug, and though she has a thick accent that Allen names as Valean—as well as English, as he had been able to pick up Menagerian so quickly thanks to Kanda’s tough love lessons in Japanese—Allen can understand her just fine on account of understanding Valean as well.

Just another thing that makes him stand out.

As if understanding all five languages in the world with ease wouldn’t.

Yang laughs as Qrow calls the match. She slaps him on the back. “C’mon. We’re up.”

* * *

Qrow looks down at all of his kids, bruised, battered, or in Blake’s case preternaturally sweaty. He’d make sure to throw Yang at her tomorrow. He goes through his laundry list of faults he’d seen during the fights and goes through them with each of them.

“Ruby, you need to focus more on your combat skills and less on your Semblance. Blake, you could have done to take her more seriously. If she had been a different opponent more experienced with her Semblance, you would have been in huge trouble.” 

Blake deflates, amber eyes glaring at the ground.

“But you’re saying I need to focus more on my fighting. Now you’re saying I could have beat her with a more experienced Semblance?” Ruby asks, confused.

“Having experience with your Semblance will come with time and experience, while being more well-rounded will help you more in the long run.” Qrow explains.

“But if I had a weapon-” Ruby argues.

“And if you lose your weapon? If it was broken or destroyed?” Qrow presses. Sheesh, get the hint, kid. A weapon isn’t everything, and neither is your Semblance.

Ruby has nothing to say to that, fidgeting and looking down at her shoes.

“Yang. When you get angry, your attacks become predictable.” That had become obvious even to Gwyn, who had an oblivious streak a mile wide.

“No, they don’t!” Yang exclaims angrily, hands clenched into fists. She turns angry eyes on Gwyn. “Right, Gwyn?”

“No, of course not,” the little bastard lies to her face. Qrow clears his throat pointedly, and he winces. “Maybe a little…”

Yang crosses her arms and huffs, turning away from him. Gwyn deflates. Yang looks back at him, a guilty expression on her face, before she scowls and turns away again.

Preteen drama. How he sure  _ doesn’t _ miss it.

“Gwyn, your guard is faulty. No matter how much you seem to believe it, your left arm isn’t going to block a punch from a stronger opponent.” And how the kid had come to  _ that _ conclusion, Qrow didn’t know. Maybe something to do with the street fights Qrow was sure he still went out to at night. Sneaky little shit.

Well, as long as he didn’t get hurt, Qrow wasn’t complaining. It sure gave him an edge over his sister.

Gwyn scowls up at him with a defiant spark in his eye, seeing it as more of a challenge than anything else. Off to the sidelines Kali coughs in order to hide her amusement. 

“Alright, that’s it. Head off to the showers. I’m sure there’s millions of them in this place.”

“I call dibs!” Yang shouts immediately, shooting off like a yellow rocket towards the direction of the house.

Gwyn and Blake, somehow, have already disappeared, leaving Blake’s shadow in their wake.

Ruby looks down and kicks her foot sulkily into the grass. “Aw, darn…”

* * *

There turns out to be plenty of bathrooms to be split between the four of them, though Allen beats Blake to their shared en suite bathroom, much to her ire. They have a relatively peaceful dinner where plans are discussed and the family of four decide to stay with the Belladonna’s for a good week, with their express permission, of course.

It’s late at night and the adults are heading off to bed, the children being sent off earlier in the night, not that Qrow expected them to follow through with the enforced bedtime. True to his expectations, he climbs upstairs to find a light on in one of the bedrooms. He finds Gwyn reading by lamp light at his worn wooden desk, Yang lying on her stomach on one of the beds in the room reading another book – and actually looking interested in it. The books look tattered and timeworn, the pages browned and frayed at the edges. Qrow knows Ozpin would get on him about his students getting oils from their skin onto the pages, but they must have done some research because they’re both wearing gloves white handling the battered tomes.

But the biggest issue is: “I don’t remember giving you any books this valuable.” Qrow states, walking further into the room to peer down at the book in Yang’s hands.

Gwyn looks over towards him but doesn’t startle, unlike Yang, who looks up at him with a yelp and wide lilac eyes. The benefit of faunus senses at work. Yang blinks over at Gwyn. “I thought you got these books from Uncle Qrow.” She says, and Qrow huffs and rolls his eyes.

“As if I would give anything this valuable to a ten year old.”

“I might have fibbed a bit,” Gwyn admits, and Qrow rolls his eyes at the ‘a bit,’ part.

“Well, whatever. Wherever you got them, I’ve never read a book like this before.” Yang says with a grin.

Qrow sits on the bed beside her, the bed dipping under his weight. “Really? What’s it about?”

“Ancient history.” Yang says.

Qrow perks up with interest, and if he were in his avian form, he would have flapped his wings and hopped closer in order to get a better look. “Damn, kid. That’s rare.” Now he really wants to know where the kid found these.

Yang beams. “I know, right? It talks about how they were just starting to build the world’s defenses, and how dust was a lot more accessible back then, so it made it easier for them to fight back against the Grimm.”

Qrow tilts his head much like his avian counterpart. “More accessible?”

Yang shrugs. “It doesn’t talk about it a lot. It’s actually some weird guy’s journal from back then, which makes it  _ a lot _ more interesting.” Yang says with a grin.

Heh. Yang would like something that was more like an adventure story than a historical account.

He turns to Gwyn. “Where exactly did you find these books?”

Gwyn shrugs. “A mafia boss.”

Yang laughs like it’s a joke, but Qrow looks at him with all the seriousness he can muster with his lips twitching into a smile. 

A mafia boss. 

What is he going to do with this kid?

“So you fought it off of him?”

“I won it in a game of cards.”

“And then you fought him.”

“Yeep.”

Qrow sighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allen does illegal shit and Qrow is so. done. Also Yang isn't sure if he's joking or not.
> 
> I always thought Allen and Yang would have a really interesting relationship, just because they're both really social and because Yang is... >.> Yang. XD Also I wonder what Yang meant by the colors in Allen's aura? More on that later.
> 
> Also, I decided to make up different languages for the different countries. Because honestly, why wouldn't there be...? They're _literally_ different countries, and so should have different languages. I know there's realistically, (within the RWBY franchise, anyway) no way to really show this without making up whole new languages or at least making it seem like you have, and obviously none of the RWBY writers or directors are language majors or even professional writers, which really does show in the plot at times. (I mean, killing off Pyrrha just to further along the character development of a character they like more? Come on, there are way better ways to gain character development than that.)
> 
> The point is, doing different languages through writing is much easier, as there's simply implying that the text is in another language through italics or resources like Wordhippo or google translate.
> 
> So, yeah, those are my reasons and I'm sticking to 'em.


	4. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> New chapter for you, and an especially long one at that, which I hope you will enjoy!
> 
> I'm posting on my phone right now bc WiFi is being a witch, so I'll make this short.
> 
> Trigger Warnings are heavy violence and Gore. 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Ruby Rose wakes up in a comfortable bed, cocooned in her own warmth. She yawns hugely, arching her back in a big stretch as her spine pops pleasantly. She raises a fist to rub at her crusty eyes as she finally remembers where she is. Instant nervousness assaults her and she yelps, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody's around. She sighs in relief when she finds this to be true.

Hesitantly she sits up in bed, placing her feet down on the cool wooden floorboards. She stands, feeling self-conscious in her long sleeved pink heart jammies and ohh why did she even bring these along? She glances at the door, which she had left partially open, then at the dresser, which was all the way at the other side of the room.

Maybe if she just sneaks quietly past, she can-

"Hey, sis!"

"GAH!" Ruby yells, leaping back. Focusing on the lilac eyes of her sister, she slumps in relief. "Oh thank God Yang, it's just you."

"Is everything alright over here?" Ruby freezes on the spot as Gwyn–the white haired faunus that had seemed really nice but that Ruby hadn't had the courage to go up to due to his intimidating sister–peeks into the room to look at her with concern.

Ruby brings her forefingers together, fidgeting and looking down at the floor. "Er, um… yes?" It comes out as more of a question than a statement, and Ruby winces. Now he'd think she was stupid and would hate her forever!

"Well, alright." Gwyn says, looking bemused. He turns and starts walking down the hall. "See you at breakfast!"

Ruby blinks. That hadn't gone… completely terrible.

"Smooth, Rubes." Yang says with a grin.

Ruby blushes and covers her face in embarrassment. "Ugh, I know!" She groans.

Yang grabs her hands to uncover her face, revealing her smile. "If you want my advice, just be yourself. It worked for me."

Ruby wants to protest that it  _ always _ worked for Yang no matter what she did, but she didn't. She was mature that way.

Ruby sighs. "Fine, I'll try it…" she grumbles.

Yang grins. "Good! Now let's get rid of that bedhead and get down to breakfast!"

* * *

Ruby is still a nervous wreck by the time she makes it down to breakfast, though she thinks she hides it well. She must not have succeeded as much as she thought, judging by the concerned looks half the table throw her way. Darn it. She sits down in her chair in between Yang and Dad, and her eyes alight on the steaming hot piles of food in front of her. Her tummy rumbles, and she’s dishing up cheesy eggs and bacon before she can think of the consequences. 

_ “Ruby,” _ Dad says sharply, in the way he does when she’s done something wrong. Ruby pauses with a forkful of eggs halfway up to her mouth, looking up at him plaintively. “I’m sorry about her. She can be a bit overeager.” Dad says to their hosts, and Ruby looks to them, confused.

Mrs. Belladonna simply smiles, however. “There’s no need to worry. We don’t stand much on formalities, here.”

“Yeah, c’mon Tai, loosen up a little.” Uncle Qrow says with a laugh, serving himself up some hash browns and an omelet. Yang laughs and does the same. Gwyn, Ruby notices, is already eating.

Dad shrugs with a smile. “Alright.” Getting his own food, he takes a bite and makes a sound of enjoyment. Ruby, finally feeling like she can eat hers, digs in. She hums. The food really is good. They must have butlers upon butlers to make it this good. Not that she’d seen any. But that was practically a butler’s job, wasn’t it? To not be seen by the rest of the household? Or wait, maybe that was a maid. Either way, the food was delicious.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Mrs. Belladonna says. “We made the food ourselves, so if you have any problems with it don’t hesitate to say so.”

“Really?” So there really were no secret butlers?

“I’m afraid not,” Gwyn says, as Uncle Qrow and Yang laugh as everyone else at the table try to hide their amusement, and she’d just said that out loud, didn't she?

Ruby blushes with embarrassment and pulls her red hood up over her head, hiding herself so that she can’t see them. Yang sighs. “C’mon, no hood at the table, Rubes.” She says, pulling at the back of it with one hand.

Ruby stubbornly grips the front of her hood in both hands, muttering sullenly, “hoods are cool.”

“Hoods  _ are _ cool,” Gwyn says approvingly, and Ruby peeks out from the comforting depths of her hood to see him smiling her way. 

Ruby smiles hesitantly back, her grip on her hood loosening. But then Yang yanks the hood from her grasp and she gasps at the betrayal. It was all a dastardly trick!

But Gwyn smiles at her, keeping his attention on her despite his horrible trick. Maybe he really does like hoods? “You like hoods?” Ruby asks.

Gwyn smiles and nods. “I have several, though they don’t cover my ears of course.” Gwyn twitches the ears in question.

“Would that be uncomfortable for you?” Dad asks, concerned.

Gwyn nods, shooting Dad a reassuring smile. “Yes, though there’s really no need for the concern. Neither I or my sister plan on hiding our faunus heritage upon entrance to Signal. Right, Blake?” Gwyn elbows his sister in the side.

Blake looks up from her book and shrugs. “Probably not. I don’t see much reason to.” She looks to her brother with a fond smile, and Gwyn smiles back, placing a hand on her shoulder. Blake shakes her head with a small smile and goes back to reading, and Gwyn smiles to himself before focusing back on the table. Ruby doesn’t miss their parent’s proud smiles, and something pangs in Ruby’s chest.

Mom… 

( _ beep… beep… beep… _ goes the machine.)

(The person lying in the hospital bed never moves.)

“So you like weapons, Ruby?” Gwyn asks, and Ruby brightens, nodding her head enthusiastically.

“They’re so cool!” Ruby gushes. Yang groans and rolls her eyes. “Every weapon is amazing! I can’t just pick between one, y’know?!” Oh no, there she goes again, messing everything up. Now he’s going to-

Gwyn tilts his head to the side, his ears perked with obvious interest. “Why do you like weapons so much?” 

Ruby blinks. She smiles. “A weapon is a… um…” What was the word in Menagerian again?

“Personification.” Dad offers.

Ruby nods vigorously. “ _ Personification _ of a huntsman or huntress. The weapon is a part of them, an extension of who they are.”

Gwyn nods. “I suppose that makes sense.” He says, making Ruby’s chest feel warm. Could it be she’s actually making a friend, or in the process of making one? Oh no, what if she messes up somehow and ruins her chances?

Aithne enters the dining room suddenly. She bends down to whisper something into Mr. Belladonna’s ear. He gains a tight expression, body language tensing, before he excuses himself from the table, leaving Mrs. Belladonna as the sole host. Ruby doesn’t miss the worried look she sends at his retreating back.

The twins hold grave and serious expressions respectively, so they must have heard what was being said. Ruby leans forward and whispers, “what did she say?”

Blake shoots her an irritated look, making Ruby wilt. Gwyn puts a hand on her arm, however, and Blake sighs and settles with a fond roll of her eyes. Gwyn simply shakes his head, however. “It’s not my place to say.” He says with an apologetic smile.

And he really does seem genuinely apologetic.

“Problem?” Uncle Qrow asks Mrs. Belladonna before Ruby can, and Mrs. Belladonna closes her eyes before opening them again.

She seems to be deciding how much to tell them. Ruby waits on the edge of her seat, as does everyone else in the room, tension thick in the air. Eventually she sighs and says, “Ghira and I trust you, so I suppose there’s no harm in telling you this. There’s been some dissenters among the faunus of the White Fang, people who are unhappy with the way we’re doing things and are looking to turn to more… drastic actions.”

“Terrorists?” Dad asks sharply.

Mrs. Belladonna dips her head. “Potentially.”

“If they’re terrorists, why not just kick them out of the White Fang?” Blake asks angrily.

Gwyn’s eyes become sharp and steely with determination. "If we kick them out of the White Fang it's possible they may take up arms with each other. Better to keep them in the White Fang and on a short leash than let them join together and possibly gain followers."

Ruby's mouth opens and closes like a fish's. She's in complete awe. How can someone so young – nearly as young as  _ her _ – keep up with a conversation like this? Ruby feels the beginnings of hero worship start to form and makes no effort to stop it.

Even Yang is looking at him with newfound respect, and Uncle Qrow elbows Dad in the side, and Dad rolls his eyes as if acceding to some point. Blake is glaring down at her plate with a scowl on her face, stabbing viciously at her eggs and taking a huge bite as Mrs. Belladonna gives Gwyn an approving smile. Gwyn smiles back, looking like he's not sure how to accept the praise.

Ruby totally understands. She's horrible at accepting praise, even when she deserves it.

"That's right," Mrs. Belladonna says, nodding to her son. "But Ghira will never let it get that far. It's really nothing to worry about." She reassures.

Uncle Qrow nods. "Alright." He grins. "Well kids, I hope your food has had time to digest. Get dressed and let's get down to the rings."

As one, the four children groan.

* * *

Blake hits the ground hard, staring dazedly up at her opponent as she struggles to return air into her lungs. “Yang wins!” Qrow calls the match, and Blake slumps, her anger simmering underneath her skin. Yang Xiao-Long holds out a hand to help her up, but Blake brushes it aside. She can stand just fine on her own. She stands and brushes dirt and grass off of her shirt, though she can’t help the grass stains. Qrow hands her a water bottle fresh from the cooler, the surface of the container cool against her fingers. She nods her thanks and goes to sit on the sidelines, drinking from the container.

She had been reckless in her bout with Yang. Spurred on by anger from everyone’s reactions earlier to what was a relatively easy solution to come to once one thought about it.

Easy for her brother, anyway.

Not easy enough for her, apparently.

Blake scowls and kicks her foot into the turf. “Hey, don’t be a sore loser, now.” A voice teases, and Blake jumps.

Gwyn wouldn’t have jumped.

She scowls up at the resident female blonde, Yang Xiao-Long. “I’m not a sore loser,” she says with a scowl.

Yang drops herself to the ground next to her with an easy grin. “Sure, whatever you say.” She says, not really agreeing. “So what’s got you so wound up? You were a lot better in that fight with Ruby yesterday. Not that you could have beaten me,” she adds with a cocky grin, making Blake snort.

“It’s complicated,” Blake says with a shrug.

“Then  _ un _ complicate it.” Yang pushes.

Anger and indignance bubble up inside her. Who is she, to demand her to divest her secrets without giving something in return? Blake scowls darkly and kicks the other girl in the shin. Hard. Her lilac eyes widen in surprise before narrowing. “Hey-! Ohh, you’re gonna get it!” She bares her teeth in what could be called a grin punches Blake hard in the side. Blake’s purple aura flares up around the area and Blake narrows her eyes. She sends a knife hand lightning quick towards the girl’s chest. Yang ‘oofs’ upon impact but otherwise doesn’t react, her yellow aura flaring to the surface. And then the girls are tussling on the ground, Yang grabbing Blake in strong holds that never last long as the girl slips easily out of her grip.

And somehow, Blake finds herself laughing. There are tears of laughter in her eyes when Mr. Xiao-Long finally comes to break them up, and Blake has to stop and catch her breath, sitting beside Yang in the grass. Blake looks up, feeling eyes on her. She catches Gwyn looking at her, smiling with a sad look in his eyes. When he catches her stare he smiles at her, but Ruby catches his attention before he can come over.

Blake notices something on the ground and picks it up on a whim. It’s tan colored and faintly teardrop shaped, and gives underneath her hand while being slightly warm to the touch. She sniffs it only to find it smells of sweat and Yang. Yang’s scent can only be described as something…  _ red _ . Blake blushes, suddenly realizing what, exactly, she’s holding. She’s thinking about just dropping it on the ground and forgetting she saw it when Yang says, “oh, I was wondering where that one went.” She then casually plucks it out of Blake’s hand and stuffs it into her bra.

“What is it with you two and grabbing my boobs?” Yang asks with a teasing grin.

Blake blushes with embarrassment, and she huffs. “Shut up.”

Yang slings an arm over her shoulders with a grin. “Y’know Blakey, I think this is the start of a beautiful, beautiful friendship.”

Blake rolls her eyes, but she can’t help but smile.

* * *

“Aaand start!” Qrow says, and Allen drops into a ready stance, eyeing his opponent. Ruby Rose, while having unlocked her Semblance, would most likely not be much of an opponent for him. The colors of her aura were interesting, if rather expected. She has quite a lot of Mr. Xiao-Long’s white-yellow, as well as Yang’s yellow and Qrow’s vibrant red, and even the beginnings of grey-blue, much to Allen’s surprise. The only real unknown factor was the white aura next to Mr. Xiao-Long’s with a spider web of cracks going through it to suggest a painful bond as well as a happy one. 

Allen wasn’t one to judge. He had a couple of those himself.

“Raargh!” Ruby charges him at full speed with her body blurring until, to the untrained eye, she looks like nothing more than a red smear flying through the air with rose petals whirling in her wake. But Allen has the advantage of having fought enemies stronger and faster than him before, as well as the advantage aura and his faunus vision give him. He focuses on his breathing and the beating of his heart, and for a few precious moments his perception of time slows to a crawl. He easily steps aside of Ruby’s charge and sticks out a foot, and Ruby trips right over it and goes tumbling face down into the dirt.

Ruby turns and stumbles clumsily to her feet, only to fall right back onto the ground, all elbows and knees. Allen sighs. Fighting like this wasn’t going to help her improvement if she didn’t know  _ how _ to fight in the first place. Sure, she might learn a few tricks, but Ruby seems more the type to feel discouraged by her losses than to be determined to get up and try again. Maybe Qrow was trying to toughen her up, but Allen couldn’t just keep beating the girl when she was clearly fighting a losing battle.

Allen holds out a hand and smiles down at her. “I could keep fighting you, but I don’t think that would do much good. How about I teach you some moves instead?”

Ruby looks like she wants to argue, however she eventually puffs her cheeks out and accepts the hand up, fidgeting a bit. “I guess…”

Allen nods with a smile, trying to think about what to do first. He comes across an idea and says, “first I’ll teach you how to break some holds. Come on.” 

He has Ruby trap him in the hold first, an arm wrapped chokingly around his neck and another around his stomach. “What now?” Ruby asks nervously.

“Don’t worry. This is only a demonstration, so I won’t actually be using the technique against you, and we can stop at any time.” Allen reassures once again, and Ruby relaxes.

“Now, first you hit your assailant with a headbutt, and then grab their arm and twist out of the hold. I’m going to show you now.” Allen warns. Ruby gulps audibly. Allen makes a light motion that could be called a headbutt and then grabs the arm around his neck, twisting out of the hold.

“T-that wasn’t so bad.” Ruby says, and Allen smiles at her. She smiles back, looking excited.

“Do you want me to show it to you again?”

Ruby deflates. “Er, yeah…” she says, embarrassed.

After showing it to her a couple more times, it’s Ruby’s turn.

She nearly brains Allen with her faked headbutt but successfully breaks out of his hold. She looks at him questioningly, excitement plain in her features. “Did I do it?” 

Allen nods with a smile. “Yes, you did it.”

Ruby grins with delight. “Yang, I did it!” 

“Nice job, Rubes!”

Ruby turns and tackles him into a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you! You’ve helped so much!” She gushes, her eyes shining.

Allen rubs the back of his head. “I really didn’t do that much…”

Ruby grins. “Teach me more?”

Allen nods with a smile. “Of course.”

* * *

Allen sighs as he hears his sister finally drift off to sleep. He closes his eyes and concentrates, bringing the glow of his aura forward. That familiar ache settles in his chest once more, this  _ want _ , this desperate hope eating at him, never letting him rest. The familiar purple of Blake's aura settles over the left side of his chest, right over his heart. After that it becomes more… patchy. A golden aura is near his stomach, with a golden brown aura over his left eye that has a spiderwebbing of cracks running through it. A cobalt blue aura, emerald green aura, and light purple aura all share space on his left arm, with a deep purple aura in the middle of his chest. 

Allen looks down at them all and then sighs. It's foolish to hope. Foolish and desperate.

But even knowing this, he couldn't seem to help it.

* * *

Allen and Blake are busy showing Yang and Ruby around Menagerie, with Qrow and Aithne trailing cautiously behind. When Ruby had turned silver puppy eyes onto Qrow and asked if they could show her and Yang around Menagerie, Allen supposed he should have stopped her. With the tensions between their own organization and the humans at the moment, not to mention that Menagerie could be a very unfriendly place to humans if it wanted to be, they were right to be cautious. But being cooped up all day in the house because of the threat to them wasn’t helping Allen’s cabin fever, especially since he wanted to _do something_ _about it_, not sit in the house all day worrying.

So he’d turned his own pleading eyes onto Qrow, and under the combination of their stares he had given in. He’d thrown a glare Allen’s way after, clearly thinking it was all Allen’s fault. Really, his niece had done half the work for him. They’d have to tag team again later on, because Ruby clearly had some tricks up her sleeve.

Allen senses three auras as they pass by an alleyway, making him pause. There’s a pink aura, a magenta aura, and a light purple aura, and it’s the light purple aura that has Allen pausing. Hope rises in his chest, and he’s turning down the alleyway and breaking into a sprint before he can stop himself.

“Gwyn!”

“Shit, kid! Where are you-!”

He hears feet pounding after him but can’t bring himself to care. Looking to the side, he spots a large stack of boxes and knocks them into their paths, hearing muffled curses behind him. He rounds the corner as a familiar smell hits him. The scent of the sea breeze after a storm wraps around him, warm and familiar. It smells like safety. It smells like home.

And it smells like Lenalee.

He searches desperately for her, taking in his surroundings all at once. A dirty faunus with tattered clothes holds a dark haired girl with a bob cut to her chin and pink eyes against the wall by her throat, pressing a knife against her cheek. An orange haired girl lies wounded on the ground, blood pouring from her stomach, her green eyes unfocused as a dark haired boy with pink eyes tries desperately to staunch the flow of blood with his shirt. He seems conflicted, his eyes flicking back and forth between the wounded girl and what must be his sibling.

Lenalee.

Allen steps forward, and the boy eyes him warily. “Is there a problem here?” He asks pleasantly, but with an edge of danger in his voice. His hand is in his pocket, fingers gripping the hilt of his pocket knife in a firm grip.

The faunus smirks. “No, not at all.” His knife cuts into Lenalee’s face, slicing deeply into her cheek and making Lenalee scream. And Allen sees red.

Allen’s vaguely aware of his body moving with its own will, of a sharp pain filtering through his system as something stabs through his left arm. But all he’s aware of is the  _ rage _ , the protective fury running through his veins. When the red haze clears from his vision, he finds he’s poised on top of the man, his knife buried in his throat while the faunus chokes on his own blood. Allen rips his knife out of the faunus’s throat and leaves him to his death rattles, turning to Lenalee a bit dizzily. His left arm throbs, and he realizes that there’s a knife buried in his left forearm.

“Are you alright, Lenalee?” Allen asks, making sure his voice is strong despite his pain and dizziness. 

Both the boy and Lenalee react to the name, Lenalee’s eyes widening. She seems to take him in all at once and asks shakily, with hope in her eyes, “A-Allen?”

Allen smiles. “Hey,” he says softly.

Lenalee opens her mouth to say more, but the boy interrupts. “Not that this reunion wasn’t a long time coming, but Nora could really use some help.” He says with preternatural calm.

“And so could you,” Lenalee says pointedly.

“I think we all could.” Allen says, just as pointedly.

Nora’s not getting to her feet anytime soon, so Lenalee and Allen sacrifice some clothing in order to make bandages and Lenalee’s brother uses his aura to lift her up. Apparently both Lenalee and Nora are low on aura from crossing the ocean, and couldn’t even muster up enough aura to protect themselves. Allen imagines that they didn’t use a boat to get here.

“I’m Lie Ren. Lenalee’s told me a lot about you.” Lie, or Ren perhaps, says as they begin to finish off the bandages.

Allen turns to her and raises an eyebrow. “She has, has she?”

Lenalee blushes. “Ren’s my brother, Allen. And I can’t exactly keep secrets like you can.”

Allen holds back a wince.

It wasn’t that simple. Not for him at least.

Allen’s been hiding behind a web of secrets and half-truths all of his life. He can hardly set that aside just because he’s started a new one.

"It's Gwyn, actually." Allen looks away from them both, his ears pulling half back. "Gwyn Belladonna."

Lenalee smiles shyly. "Keira Ren."

"It's nice to meet you," Allen jokes, and Lenalee giggles just in time for Ruby to burst upon the scene in a flutter of rose petals. Ruby takes one look at the scene and abruptly loses her lunch. 

Qrow and the others aren't far behind, and Allen takes in Blake's horrified anger and quickly looks away. Qrow crouches in front of him. "Hell, kid." He breathes out shakily. Allen looks up at him, but there's nothing but worry and an odd understanding in his eyes. Allen leans against him for a moment, taking in the familiar smell of alcohol and the midnight sky. He steps away but quickly has to lean on him for support. Qrow surveys the damage around him and quickly says, "Alright, let's take these kids back to the house to get their wounds treated. Aithne, take the girl, would you?"

Aithne nods her assent, scooping up Nora in her arms while Qrow picks up Allen like he weighs nothing. "I can walk," Allen protests, but Qrow ignores him completely.

It wasn't long before Allen's world was consumed by darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, Allen being all murderously protective of Lenalee... 
> 
> As for Lenalee telling her family about her being reincarnated, well, Lenalee isn't exactly the secret keeping master that Allen is. More than that, once she saw them as family, she would _want_ to tell them. 
> 
> And Yang makes a boob joke, which is typical of her really... XD
> 
> Also Blake isn't as cool or reserved bc of her time spent with Allen as well as outside of the White Fang. Just in case anyone noticed and wanted to know why.
> 
> Also, Ruby and Allen and Blake and Yang bonding! 
> 
> And Allen's faulty guard comes back to bite him in the ass. I wonder if he'll learn from it... 
> 
> And Allen and Ruby become Hood Bros™

**Author's Note:**

> I see Allen as what writers call an “empowering character.” Empowering characters inspire new confidence in other characters and spur them into actions that they might otherwise not have taken. Empowering characters often refuse to give up on their views or beliefs, stubbornly sticking to their ideals. 
> 
> A few canon examples of when Allen has empowered other characters is when he empowered Miranda into synchronizing with her Innocence, when he empowered Kanda into making the right decision with Alma, and when he empowered Johnny into getting into shape to go look for him. This also means that Empowering characters are often proactive instead of reactive, but I won’t get into that right now. ^^ 
> 
> Eirwen means “white as snow” and while I was going to stick with that originally, Allen and Blake had other plans. The name Gwyn means “white, fair, blessed” in Welsh.
> 
> See y'all next chap! ^^


End file.
